


The Rose & The Unicorn

by CasMayaSutra



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Blatant Manipulation Of Megstiel Moments, Endgame Castiel/Dean Winchester, F/M, Fluff and Angst, FluffMaster, M/M, Past Castiel/Meg Masters, i'm not even sorry, who am I kidding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-18
Updated: 2017-07-18
Packaged: 2018-12-03 17:55:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11537424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CasMayaSutra/pseuds/CasMayaSutra
Summary: Castiel doesn't believe in soulmates. He'd rather marry his girlfriend, Meg.Fate has other ideas. So does Meg.





	The Rose & The Unicorn

**Author's Note:**

> I was supposed to be working on my DCCB.
> 
> Cue 3AM weird dream, then this happened!
> 
> FYI : I don't ship Megstiel in canon, but there is something tender about that one interaction in Goodbye Stranger
> 
> PLEASE NOTE: This fic is ENDGAME DESTIEL. If you have followed the Castiel/Meg pairing, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. 
> 
> I WILL NOT BE REMOVING THE MEGSTIEL TAG BECAUSE IT IS A VALID RELATIONSHIP, TOLD WITH MEG POV.
> 
> IT WOULD BE DISINGENIOUS TO DENY THAT MEGSTIEL IS A MAJOR PAIRING IN THIS FIC EVEN IF IT IS NOT ENDGAME. 
> 
> There are other tags which clearly state what the fic is about... HEED THEM instead of leaving hateful comments.
> 
> In the words of Richard Speight Jr. "Here’s the Rule. This is the only Rule. If you don’t have something nice to say – put the phone down."
> 
> If you do have anything other than mindless hate, I'd love to hear from you. Leave me some comments - I need motivation to keep on keeping on with my DCBB.

xxxxxxxxxxx

 

“Will you marry me?”

Meg’s jaw dropped, the unexpected proposal from her college sweetheart, Castiel Novak, came completely out of left field.

“Cas?! What...How?! WHAT?!!” She flustered.

She could see Cas thrumming with excitement, his blue eyes glittering, “I want to marry you, Meg! I love you! Be my wife?”

Meg felt her own eyes moisten as she answered, her lips trembling with emotion, “Oh Clarence! I would love to! You know I love you! But Clarence,” she took his face gently in her soft hands, her dark chocolate eyes gazing searchingly into his azure blue ones, “Are you sure? I mean…”

She hesitated, “I...I’m not… I’m not your soul-mate, Castiel.” She steeled herself to point out the elephant in the room. 

Cas shook his head vehemently, “I don’t care, Meg!”, he insisted. “I love _you_! I don’t want to give you up for some fantasy “soul-mate” whom I don’t even know!”

“But Cas! What if...what if you meet them after….after? What if they do turn out to be perfect for you? I can’t...I’m not strong enough, Clarence. I may not be able to give you...give _us_ up!”

“Oh Meg,” Cas begged, “Come with me!”

He placed the velvet box containing the silver ring on the coffee table, holding a hand out to help her stand up, “C’mon, I want to show you something.”

She allowed him to pull him along with her, as he led her to their bedroom. He pulled her to face the painted wall, standing behind her as he wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder.

“You see this?” He pointed at the mural, a miasma of colour, old and new that swirled across the entire wall.

They had both painted this mural, together, though not as one continuous painting. It had started with a single element, to mark the day they declared their love, when the apartment was still Castiel’s alone. Along the years, it became their apartment, their wall and their tradition, whenever they crossed an important milestone, they added to the mural, whatever each of them thought to be significant symbol of the moment.

On the left upper corner was a realistic ethereal unicorn. That was the day they made up after their first fight, when Meg called him her unicorn.

A swarm of cute yellow bees dotted the top of the wall, a birthday present from Meg, because she knew he loved watching the bees, and wanted to say she’d always give him what he loved.

In the lower corner, inexplicably, a crudely drawn cartoon pizza made kissy faces with plump red lips.

Cas walked Meg closer to the wall, as he cupped one of her small hands in his large, elegant fingers, and guided it to touch a prickly red rose in the centre, “You remember, this? This, Meg, is you! My prickly thorny rose. You’re as much the centre of my heart as this rose is the centre of this wall, Meg.” He turned her around to face him, “You can’t...don’t tell me some _soul-mate_ is going to suddenly become that.. They can’t, Meg. You’re it for me.” He kissed her gently, on the lips, then her eye-lids as she closed them, “Please, marry me.” He whispered.

Meg had never had the strength to refuse her unicorn, and she didn’t have any now, “Yes!” She breathed, “Yes, Clarence, I will!”

The joy on Castiel’s face temporarily dispersed her reservations, her worry of what would happen, if Castiel ever met his soulmate, the person who bore his mark, and whose mark was indelibly etched on her lover’s skin, an inverted artistic “F”, with two central strokes instead of the standard one.

It wasn’t enough, however to completely dispel the dread of what would happen if the mark grew, the design entwining with its match, its mate, whatever symbol Castiel’s soulmate carried to symbolise him.

 

xxxxxxxxxxx

 

“Miss Meghan Masters?” The professional clipped tones of the person on the other end of the phone sent a shiver down her spine as Meg answered her phone.

“Yes. This is Meg. Who is it?”

“Miss Masters, my name is Nurse Pamela Barnes. I’m calling from Lawrence Memorial Hospital.”

As soon as Meg heard the name of the hospital, her heart started beating faster. Lawrence. That’s where Castiel was meant to be this week, one of the local boutique art galleries having agreed to display some of his still life pieces. She felt her hands start trembling, a cold feeling creeping into the pit of her stomach as the voice on the other end continued, “You are listed as the emergency contact for a Castiel Novak?”

“Yes, yes he’s my f...friend” she hesitated. They hadn’t had a chance to disclose their engagement to either of their families. They had decided they would wait until Cas came back from this trip before they made the announcement. More so because the snooty Novaks had never approved of Meg, an orphan, even as a friend and their youngest son announcing he was _marrying_ her would definitely meet with some fireworks.

Meg herself had no family of her own, but the family that had been her foster parents until she turned eighteen still kept in touch, and Mary Winchester would have been delighted for the girl she considered her daughter.

Pushing thoughts of angry families aside, Meg gathered enough of her wits to ask, “What..What happened?”

“Mr. Novak was brought in earlier today, a victim of a DUI from what we understand. You are listed as his next of kin, so I’m calling you to let you know.”

“NO! No...no…” Meg felt her legs giving out beneath her, as her voice took on a distinct hysteric whine.

“Miss Masters! He’s fine!” The nurse hurried to reassure her, “I mean, he’s alive, but unconscious at the moment. He’s in the ICU. There was severe head trauma, but we’ve stabilised him, and he’s out of immediate danger.”

“Ok. Ok. Oh Thank God!” Meg breathed, relieved. “I’m coming… I’m coming down. I’ll be there by morning.” She promised, getting the requisite details from the nurse before hanging up.

She went into the bedroom to throw together some clothes in a duffle bag, her hands trembling as she tried to control the tears that threatened to spill, blurring her vision. Her frantic fumbling caused clothes and toiletries to fall from her hands multiple times, as she tried to push them into the bag on the bed, until eventually she let the whole thing drop, sinking down to the floor, her head resting on the bed, and let the anguish out. A scream tore through her throat, her eyes finally overflowing, her sobs drowning out the sound of her thudding heartbeat.

Meg didn’t know how long she stayed that way but somewhere along the way she lifted her head, and her eyes fell on the mural on the opposite wall, a testament to Castiel’s and her love, to their time together.  Her eyes were drawn to the latest addition, just a week old, from the night Cas had proposed to her.

The unicorn in the top corner now had wings black as night, and looked ready to take flight.

The unicorn had been Meg’s, but that night Castiel had added the wings, saying that she helped him fly to new heights.

Seeing the wall that was the canvas of their love, gave Meg a new strength. Her unicorn needed her. She stood up, a determination in her movements, as she finished packing what she would need.

 

xxxxxxxxxxx

 

“Meg?!”

Meg whirled around at the reception counter where she stood, exhausted and crumpled, waiting for the receptionist to page Nurse Barnes.

She had driven through the night, with just one coffee break during the six-hour drive, but the voice was familiar, and she couldn't help the smile that flickered on to her lips before she saw the tall sandy-haired man that was walking towards her, his face scrunched in a confused frown.

“Dean? What are you doing here?”, her own face reflected her confusion. Her foster brother was the person she expected to run into in the town she had grown up in. The last time she had spoken to Mary a couple of years ago, she had said Dean had moved to Palo Alto, to be closer to his younger brother Sam.

The Winchesters brothers’ codependency, which sometimes bordered on the unhealthy, had never allowed the foster sister to be too close to either Dean or Sam, but they had still welcomed her as family for the few years she had been fostered by Mary Winchester, though Dean had cooled considerably towards her when her wild friends had begun influencing Sam. Especially Ruby, who, unknown to Meg had nearly got Sam hooked onto much harder drugs than the weed and pot that Meg was into.

In fact, somewhere Meg was sure, Dean still blamed her for Sam withdrawing from his family during that time.  

“I transferred my residency here in January. Sam too, though he’s in Kansas City. What about you? Is everything ok?” Dean asked, not quite managing to mask the concern from his eyes.

For Meg, the question brought the situation crashing back into the forefront, her eyes widening in an O, “Actually, it’s my f….” 

“Miss Masters!”, a warm voice interrupted her. Meg turned to the caller, and was met by a tall attractive brunette, “Miss Masters, I’m Pamela.” She said, holding out a hand to shake. 

“Meg, please. How is he?” She shook the offered hand.

“Follow me. I’ll bring you up to date on his status.” Pamela indicated, nodding her chin in the direction she had appeared from.

She hurried to follow the nurse, looking back over her shoulder at Dean, who waved and mouthed at her, “It’s ok. I’ll see you later.”

Meg nodded, then turned back towards where they were headed, as Nurse Barnes started listing the possible complications that could arise with a head injury such as Castiel’s.

“From what we know, the patient suffered substantial head trauma, although initial scans have ruled out the possibility of a fractured skull bone. He was unconscious when he was brought in last night, and has been kept under heavy sedation to lessen complications. Our main worry right now is seizures and respiratory distress. We’ve put him on ventilator for the first twentyfour hours, then we’ll start weaning him off the sedatives to see if he is able to breathe on his own. Brain injury is a long term concern, but we’ll be able to assess what the extent of that is only after he wakes up. Those are the main things for now.” Pamela fired off the medical details as they walked, before she stopped at a nurse’s station outside a set of double doors, marked ICU.

“Hey Charlie. This is Meg Masters, next of kin for Castiel Novak. Can you sign her in and give her the basics? I’m still on Emergency.” She addressed a perky red-head at the station, before she turned to Meg, who was too shell-shocked to properly react.

Pamela’s eyes turned soft, “He’ll be okay. It’s looking good, yeah? Don’t worry, Charlie’ll take you to see him now, and there’s a waiting lounge for family of ICU patients. The attending doctor will visit at 11 a.m., so that gives you a few hours to rest up. I go off shift at noon, so i’ll come and see you before I leave, okay?”

Meg could only nod in acknowledgement, and Pamela looked at Charlie who waved her off, “I got this.” 

Charlie signed Meg in, then came around the desk. She gave Meg a visitor ID with with a lanyard, “Mr. Novak is in Bed 10. Keep this on display at all times while you are in the ICU. The doors are access-controlled so the ID card is also your keycard, it’ll also give you access to the special waiting lounge and showers. Cell phone use is restricted so only use it in the lobby, family lounges, the cafeteria and waiting areas. Keep it completely switched off in the ICU, it can cause interference with a lot of life saving equipment.” She said, as she led her through the large double doors.

 

xxxxxxxxxxx

 

Meg woke up with a start as her alarm went off, feeling disoriented at the unfamiliar surroundings before she remembered the blur of events during the past twelve hours. She looked at the time on her phone, and seeing that it was 10 AM, she stretched and got out of the leather recliner in the family lounge of the hospital.

She had come to bed late last night, reluctant to leave Cas, until Charlie almost manhandled her out of the ICU with a promise to call her if there was any change to Cas’ condition.

Yesterday, the doctor had authorised reducing the dosage of sedatives keeping Cas unconscious but there had been no sign of him waking up. They had reassured her that this was normal in head injury cases, and MRI scans showed brain function was not impaired, which was a good sign.

Meg had sat on the nightmare they called a chair at his bedside all day, holding her unicorn’s hand, whispering fervent prayers and furious ultimatums to whichever angel had their radio on, begging Cas to open his eyes.

Meg repeatedly tried calling Gabriel, Castiel’s brother, the only Novak who she could tolerate, and the only one of the lot who wasn’t outright derisive of Meg’s status in Cas’ life. Gabriel’s phone kept diverting to voicemail, and Meg deduced he must be on one of the overseas trips for his latest gig as a wedding planner. She wouldn’t have been able to face calling any of the other Novaks, even if she had their number. She decided that she would try Gabriel again in the morning, and if she couldn’t get hold of him then, she’d look for Naomi’s number in Cas’ phone. Hopefully Cas would be awake by then and able to at least tell her what she should do.

After a quick shower and change of clothes, she bought a granola bar from the vending machine, and made her way to the ICU. She had no appetite for a proper breakfast, and no inclination to venture anywhere until she could see any progress in Cas.  

She walked into Cas’ room, and the sight of him frail and white in the harsh hospital light arresting her steps at the door. His dark hair looked darker against his pale skin, his eyes sank into their sockets, and there were dark bruises from the injury on his forehead and temple. The drunk driver had not been at high speed, so the impact had been relatively low, with no broken bones and internal injuries, and Cas would have escaped with minor cuts and bruises if only he hadn’t been knocked against a lamp post, which caused the head injury.

She sat down at what was becoming her spot, waiting for the doctor to arrive. She picked up one cold limp hand, enfolding it within both of hers, as she kissed the knuckles, “C’mon Clarence! You gotta wake up, darling. I miss you so much!”

She pressed her forehead to their clasped hands, “You’ll be ok, Cas. I’m gonna take you home,  we’re gonna order some pizza and we're gonna move some furniture around. You hear me? C’mon baby, open your eyes!” She felt the tears fall, even as her lips smiled at the memory, “You remember the pizza man, Clarence?”

Meg didn't know how long she stayed that way, talking about happy memories, and sad ones, their fights and their good times, hoping some of it was getting through to whatever dimension her unicorn had flown to, hoping he could follow the thread of those memories back home.

Eventually the doctor came, did what he had to do, wrote his notes, and left. The first twenty four hours mark had come and gone, with no change in Cas’ condition.

Some time during the afternoon, Pamela came to check on Meg. She tried to convince her to go to the cafeteria for lunch, but Meg would not be budged, so she brought her a prepacked sandwich and a cup of hospital coffee, and stayed in the room until Meg ate.

And so it continued.

Around five in the evening, when there was the soft whisper of visitors in the adjoining cubicles, Meg felt lonelier than ever. Remembering that she had been meaning to try Gabriel again, she walked out to the lobby, switching on her cell phone as she walked. She was sitting in one of the chairs in the waiting lounge, waiting for the phone to fire up, when she felt a warm hand on her shoulder, and a soft voice whispered, “Meg?”

She looked up and saw the kind face that had supported her and nurtured her through some of the darkest years of her life. Mary Winchester pulled her into a tight hug, and as the maternal arms held her, Meg crumbled. All the shored up anguish came spilling out through her eyes, gasping sobs escaping her throat. “Honey? What happened, Meg?”

As Meg half sobbed, half gasped out what had happened, Mary never let go, offering strength and warmth much as she had done when a younger angst-ridden Meg had sought answers to many questions and angrily lashed out at a world that had left her cruelly alone.

“Why didn’t you call me, Meg? You don’t have to do this alone. We’re here for you, Meg, always, you know that, right? You’re family, hon.” Mary reassured her, wiping the tears from her cheeks, running a loving hand through her hair.

They stayed that way for a while, Mary holding and comforting Meg while she gathered herself when suddenly they were interrupted by alarm beeps coming from the direction of Cas’ cubicle.

Alarmed, Meg wrenched herself from Mary’s arms, running towards the source, the older woman following behind. Dreading what she would fine, Meg burst into the room, only to find Cas clinging tight to a startled Dean, who had pressed the nurse call button in panic. Before Meg could figure out what was happening, two nurses and a resident had pushed past her to start checking on Cas. They tried to make him lie down again to check his vitals and make sure he had not dislodged the IV in his arm, but Cas wouldn’t let go of Dean. Meg looked at Dean, who still looked shocked, “Wh..what..?”

“I don’t know!” The flabbergasted man said, “I just came to turn him over like we do for unconscious patients, and suddenly he sprang up! I nearly fainted!”

The resident signalled to Dean for his assistance, seeing as Cas still hadn’t let go, and Dean started speaking to Cas soothingly, urging him to lie down so the doctor could do his job. Reluctantly, Cas lay down, but continued holding tight to Dean’s hand, getting increasingly agitated at being unable to speak because of the ventilator.

The nurse managed to add a dose of sedative and slowly, Cas sank back, his death grip on Dean’s hand finally relaxing as the medication took him under.

As the nurses went about doing a final check to make sure all the equipment was attached correctly, and the readings were within spec, Meg sat down on the bed near Cas, her trembling legs no longer able to support her, as her heart pounded a staccato rhythm.

The nurses took Dean with them, wanting to ask him about the exact events that caused the unconscious patient to suddenly awake, and Mary moved to sit next to Meg, offering what comfort she could, as the younger woman tried to calm down.

Castiel was kept under sedation for the rest of the evening and through the night, to minimise the risk of injury in case he woke as violently a second time.

  


xxxxxxxxxxx

 

The emotional and physical exertion of the day took its toll on Meg, and she didn’t wake until eleven the next day. Seeing that she had nearly missed the doctor’s round, she had a quick wash and brushed her teeth, finger combing the sleep knots from her dark curls as she rushed to the ICU.

The scene she encountered in Cas’ cubicle registered in slow motion, one scene at a time.

Cas was sitting up.

Cas was awake and sitting up!

Cas was awake, sitting up and talking to someone who sat on the chair at his bedside, their back to the door. 

As she entered, Cas turned his head towards her, his blue eyes lighting up, a broad grin spreading across his face. “Meg?! What are you doing here?”

Meg was too relieved to notice the question, she rushed to the man on the bed, “Clarence! Oh god, you’re awake!”

Cas laughed, and good god, Meg was happy to hear that sound again. “I am! Though I still don't know who Clarence is.” He pouted.

Meg was laughing and crying at the same time, unable to decide what she wanted to do first, as she weakly swatted whatever part of Cas was nearest, which happened to be his leg.

“Seriously, though. I’m ok. How did you know I was here? Did Gabriel call you? Wait, are you missing class to visit me, Meg?’ He asked sternly. 

His questions pierced through her delirious happiness, although they made no sense. “C...class? Gabriel?! Wh..what do you mean? Is..Did Gabriel come to see you?” She turned to the person sitting in the chair, expecting to see her fiance’s elder brother. Instead the person sitting there was none other than Dean Winchester!

Before she could say anything, though, Cas piped up, “Dean, this is my best friend, Meg. Meg you’ll never guess who Dean is!” 

Meg was still reeling from Cas introducing her as his “best friend”, and her face must have reflected her confusion, which Cas misinterpreted and went on, “Dean is my soulmate! Can you believe it?! I nearly die and I meet him in the hospital!”

Meg’s jaw dropped. She looked from Cas to Dean and back, “S..soulmate?”

“Unh hunh!” He nodded excitedly. “Here look!” He pulled down the collar of his hospital gown, revealing the familiar inverted F tattoo of his soulmark just under his collarbone, only now the mark was no longer solitary. It was surrounded by a pair of wings. A pair of wings that spread out as if taking flight. “Dean! Show her yours!” He excitedly said to the sandy haired man, who blushed in embarrassment, but pulled up the sleeve of his flannel shirt to reveal an identical mark in the crook of the elbow on his right arm.

Meg looked at the wings, nearly identical replicas of the one’s Cas had drawn on their wall, and she felt the blood go cold in her veins. “Uh… I don’t...Cas? I don’t understand!I thought...” She barely managed to put together a coherent sentence.

But Cas was on a roll, he just didn’t know it was down a steep hill, “Where’s Gabriel? Has he gone for more candy? Hey, can you send my laptop and my notes from my dorm room. I have that Art History essay due and I don’t want to miss the deadline.”

Meg forced herself to calm down, digging her blunt nails into the meat of her palms. “Cas, um..” Calm down, _Calm down!_ “Cas, babe, you… you aren’t in college anymore.”

This exchange made no sense to Meg, but it seemed to click something in Dean’s head. He shot out a hand before Meg could say anymore, his fingers gripping her forearm in warning, “Meg!” He said urgently, his eyebrows wiggling exaggeratedly, as with his other hand he pressed the call button.

Something was very wrong, and Meg could feel her life crumbling around her, just as she had dreaded.

 

xxxxxxxxxxx

 

If asked, Meg would probably have told you what happened since the moment Castiel opened his eyes was inevitable.

If asked further, she might have told you she had been prepared for just such an eventuality.

If asked under duress, she would have looked at you with resignation and said you couldn’t fight fate.

If asked when drunk out of her head, she would have told you the truth.

And the truth was this.

Meg Masters had only known love twice in her life.

The second time was the love she got from Castiel. It was built on years of friendship and getting to know and learn each other.

But the first time! The first time Meg had ever been shown unconditional accepting love, was when the Winchester family opened their doors and their hearts for a troubled pre-teen prone to lashing out at those who tried to help her.

It was a sound strategy. It made most people back off, write her off as a lost cause and leave her to her own devices.

Mary Winchester was _not_ most people.

Mary Winchester did not try to help. She taught Meg that she didn’t need help because she wasn’t weak.

Mary didn’t look at her with sympathy or disgust. She looked at her like a person, someone who mattered, and it made Meg want to matter.

Dean Winchester was Mary’s son. While for him Sammy WInchester came above all else, he still put family first and foremost. This had always included Meg. Even when they were at loggerheads, opposite poles because of their personalities, he never once left her to fend for herself. 

People bullied her in school, and if Meg happened to mention it at the dinner table, within the week they tended to mysteriously grow friendly and apologetic.

If Meg forgot her lunch money, the cafeteria lady smiled at her, and with a wink handed her a free sandwich. She knew the wink was sent the way of another person in the room, a sandy-haired freckle faced boy with green eyes who flirted outrageously with the overtired school worker and made her day brighter, more bearable.

The only time Dean Winchester had cut Meg off had been when he blamed Meg and the friends she had at the time for Sammy’s downfall, and even then, when that rowdy group were reported, he held Sam hand in his right, but it was Meg’s hand in his left, as he made them both promise to keep away from such influences in the future.

If Meg had not had Dean Winchester then, she may never have met Castiel. She may not have been alive to.

So Meg had a choice. Break her own heart, or break the hearts of the two people who mattered most.

It wasn’t a tough choice at all, in the end.

As the doctor came in, asking questions to determine the extent of Castiel’s memory regression, she backed away into the hospital lobby. She removed the ring from her finger and shoved it into her jeans pocket, took a deep breath, and walked into the room to be happy for her best friend. 

It was perhaps the first and only time Mary Winchester, the only other person to know the truth, lost her temper with Meg.

It didn’t make a difference.

Tiny but believable embellishments were easy to make when reintroducing Cas to the life he had forgotten. Thank god he at least remembered them being best friends.

And all through those days, she watched as Castiel fell in love with his soulmate.

A week after the accident, Cas was to be discharged from hospital, with a warning from the doctor not to force the memories. They may or may not come naturally, but it would be traumatic to try and induce them.

So after deciding that Dean would drive Cas down to Pontiac, Meg left a day earlier.

She packed up her things from their room into boxes and moved them to the guest bedroom. She wouldn’t be staying long anyway.

She went to Home Hardware and purchased a can of white paint. Castiel had always needed a canvas to express his love.

By the end of the day, the only evidence of their years together was the desktop background on Meg's laptop, a digital image of a colourful wall, her unicorn caged in pixels.

But at least in the real world, her unicorn had finally found his wings.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
